1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to baseball and, more particularly, to a baseball cover and protection system and method and apparatus for delivering the cover to an area to be covered.
2. Description of the Related Art
Invented in 1845, the game of baseball is a sport that revolves around a one-on-one competition between pitcher and batter. In both the throwing and hitting efforts, each player is exerting force with their feet against the ground at various areas on the baseball field or infield. For example, a pitcher takes a giant step forward from the top of the pitcher's mound during the throwing motion, and his front foot must have good traction to stop his motion. As is well known, a batter takes a forceful step during the hitting motion and must have good traction in both hitting and his first few steps in running toward first base. Both the pitcher and batter could be injured if they lose their traction during their motions.
Most of the areas, such as the batter's box, pitcher's mound, first base, second base and third base, are either dirt or artificial dirt surfaces. If these surfaces get too wet and slippery, the baseball game may have to be stopped to protect the players. For this and other reasons, when rain begins during a baseball game, these areas must be covered with a water barrier cover with the pitcher's mound, the batter's box and general area around home plate being the most important.
In the past, waterproof tarps have been laid over these areas, or in some cases, over the entire infield or entire field itself. Rain is usually accompanied by wind. Oftentimes, the wind caused the tarps to be blown off the areas they were intended to cover, which exposed the dirt areas underneath. In the past, there were generally two methods to keep the baseball tarps in place during such conditions. One method was to place heavy objects, such as sandbags, rocks, or bricks on the tarps. Another method was to drive stakes through the tarp or through grommet holes provided in the tarp and into the ground. Both of these methods are slow and cumbersome ways to install and return a baseball tarp over an area to be covered. These methods also were somewhat time consuming in that it took several people to first lay the tarp and then hold it down while the weights or stakes were put in place. Then, more time was required to place the weights or to drive the stakes into the ground.
Because of the slow installation procedure, the areas that were not yet covered were typically getting wet. Also, until the tarp was sufficiently weighted or staked, the tarp edges were being blown up, which caused any exposed dirt areas to get wet or wetter.
In the area of professional baseball, huge tarps covered the entire field or large portions of it. These tarps were stored on large rolls and typically required several men to unroll and distribute the tarp over the entire playing field. Obviously, this required a comparable number or even more men or machines to remove the tarp from the field after the rain stopped and it was desired to resume play. These approaches did not enable selective and quick placement of covers or tarps over just the critical areas and without the need for the use or placement of separate weights.
What is needed, therefore, is a cover and delivery and protection system and method that enable the quick delivery and covering of one or more areas to be covered.